by Aj Estelliam
‘Come on,’ Jess murmured, helping me to stand and lead me away.
I could hear the approach of the other team as Jess led me away. I heard Billy pointing out the destroyed torso as she helped me to the car.
‘You’ll be okay,’ she told me as she eased me into the back seat.
I shook my head and felt tears threaten. ‘Who does this, Jess?’ I cried.
‘It’s sick, I know…come on, Alex. It’s done now. Get it out of your head and try and calm down.’
‘Get it out of my head?’ I exploded. ‘It’s a skinned torso! With genitals sewn onto the flesh! It’s disgusting! Who does that? I mean killing alone is fucked up! This is just plain psychotic.’
‘Well exactly,’ she sighed. ‘We’re clearly not dealing with a normal human being.’
‘I want to go home,’ I told her in a quiet, sad voice. ‘Can I just head home?’
She looked at me with wide, soulful eyes. ‘Not yet, honey. I need to wait for the medical examiner. Once we’re back at the station, I’ll assign you a car and you can go back to the house. Okay?’
I nodded sadly. ‘Okay.’
‘Right…you’ll be okay here for a short while?’
I heaved a harsh breath out. ‘We both know it won’t be a short while but yeah…I’ll be fine,’ I told her.
‘Okay. I’ll try and hurry things along.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.’
She gave me one more look of concern before standing and turning to head back to the dump site. I sat back against the leather seat and stared into the distance. Sick, fucking murderer I thought to myself. I vowed there and then that I would find him and bring him to justice.
Jess and the team reappeared forty-five minutes later. Once the other vehicle was gone, we followed behind.
‘What a weird find that was,’ Billy rambled from the passenger seat. ‘I mean, the first few parts were pretty gross-what with being skinned and all but this…well, this was royally fucked up!’
‘Hey, Billy…a little sensitivity wouldn’t go amiss,’ Jess scolded him.
‘Huh?’ he frowned and then it dawned. ‘Oh, uh sorry Alex. I forgot for a minute there.’
‘Don’t worry, Billy. I’m pretty sure every non-police person who saw what I just saw would get sick too.’
‘Oh yeah, for sure! And police too! I used to get sick all the time, didn’t I JJ? Even now, you can tell who the newbies are ‘cos they’re the ones getting sick at the crime scenes.’
‘I’ve heard that,’ I murmured.
‘So, what’s happening when we get back, boss?’ he asked then.
‘We go to the morgue. We find out if we can identify the parts-and see if they are parts of the whole.’
‘They are,’ I murmured. ‘They’re all parts of James, I believe.’
‘We’ll try and confirm that,’ she nodded.
When we arrived back at the station, Billy disappeared to his desk and I was left with Jess. She was looking at me with concern and I found I wanted nothing else but to go home, get clean and relax in my own little sanctuary.
‘You head home now,’ she told me. ‘Here, have the car we took out.’
I accepted the keys she held out for me. ‘Thanks,’ I said then frowned. A thought had popped into my head out of nowhere so I closed my eyes and listened to it momentarily.
‘You okay?’ she asked when I opened my eyes.
‘Yeah…I uh…I might take a trip to the hospital on the way home though,’ I told her.
‘Yeah? Why?’
‘The Captain. I can hear him. He’s struggling with what to do and who to turn to right now. I think we should help.’
‘I’ve already offered, you know?’
‘I know…but I think he feels that he would be imposing. I’ll go and see him in person.’
‘If anyone can convince him, you can Alex.’
I smiled up at her. ‘I’ll see you later?’
She nodded and gently reached to squeeze my hand in a subtle way. ‘Love you.’
‘Love you too.’
I left the building and collected the police car we had been using. It felt strange to drive a police car through town but then, I supposed that it wasn’t an imposition-I did now work for the police.
I reached the hospital in ten minutes. After parking in the attached multi-story car park, I headed in.
Captain Withers was in a private ward on the fifth floor. I had visited frequently so knew his location well.
‘Captain Withers, sir!’ I called as I walked into the ward merrily, forcing a brighter smile than I felt deep inside.
‘Alex! This is a welcome surprise!’ he smiled.
‘Well, I thought it was high time you had a change of scenery,’ I informed him.
He frowned at me. ‘I’m not following.’
‘You’ve been released from today, right?’
‘They’re just sorting the paperwork,’ he told me. ‘Did they speak to you about it?’
‘No-you did,’ I informed him, sitting down with a rueful smile.
‘Oh…you and your psychic ways,’ he chuckled.
I shrugged. ‘So, what are your plans?’ I asked him.
‘To be honest I have no idea.’
‘But you’re being released today?’
‘Supposedly yes. I guess we’ll just go to a hotel.’
‘No, you won’t,’ I frowned.
He shook his head and looked down at his hands in his lap. ‘I don’t know, Alex. I mean, I appreciate the offer, but I just don’t know if I can accept it. I don’t know how long we’re going to be without a home and I don’t think I can impose of you and Jess like that.’
‘You can and you will. Captain, stop even bothering to argue. It isn’t worth the bother because I can see what happens anyway. You end up coming with us so you might as well stop debating it and just come on home with me now. It’ll save a lot of time and effort.’
‘Really? You’ve seen that?’
I nodded. ‘And to be honest, Dan; I could do with your help right now.’
‘With what?’ he questioned.
‘We have a new case-and I’m struggling with it. Jess is also finding it hard being in charge. I think she’d value your input-even if it’s from home rather than at the station.’
‘I can help with it for sure. I am so bored,’ he complained.
‘So, come home with me and get this figured out with me. I’ll talk you through the details on the way home.’
He looked up at me with a sincere expression on his face. ‘You sure this won’t be an imposition? I don’t want to get in the way of your relationship with Jess.’
‘You won’t, Dan! Honestly, just come and stay with us…It’d be good for all concerned.’
‘And Fee?’
‘Of course, the offer extends to Fee! Now come on, there’s a case to solve and I need your help Captain.’
He nodded. ‘Then, I accept. Let’s get this ball rolling.’
I smiled, feeling pleased with myself. I had managed to get him to come with me and I knew it would be for the best all round. I hadn’t seen a vision but it had worked to my advantage and got him to agree to come. The idea of helping with the case had clearly been a key factor in his decision making too.
‘I’ll go and chase up the doctor. Is Fee nearby too?’
‘She’s been released. She had to go into work today but she’s been staying at a local travel inn for the last two nights. I told her to wait and see what happened with me. Then we would make plans together.’
‘Well once we get home, you phone her and she can come to Jess’s house.’
He nodded. ‘Okay. Thanks.’
‘I’ll just go and get your release forms signed.’
‘Thanks Alex. I mean it…really, thank you.’
I smiled at him. ‘You need to stop thanking me. I’ll see you in a minute.’
He smiled as I turned to walk away.
Twenty minutes later, we were finally headin
g out of the hospital. I pushed his wheelchair to the entrance and then helped him into his crutches to make it to the car. It was slow progress as he was in pain and only just re-learning how to walk. He was determined and strong willed though, which made a huge difference to him. He would heal and heal fast because he had the right attitude and wanted to get better.
I drove us towards home and could hear him as we drove.
‘So, what size clothes do you wear?’ I asked him.
‘Excuse me?’ he said, surprised.
‘What size? I can hear you, Dan…you’re worried about no clothes, no toiletries and all that kind of stuff. We’ll swing by the shops and I’ll run in and buy you all the essentials.’
‘I can’t let you do that!’ he exclaimed.
‘Yeah, you can…and you can lend me your bank card!’ I laughed. ‘I’m not paying.’
He chuckled. ‘Of course.’
I smiled as I turned into the local supermarket and shopping complex. He gave me his card and number and then I left him in the car park and hurried off to do some shopping. In a men’s clothing shop, I bought him boxers, socks, trousers, jeans, t-shirts and jumpers. I then went to the pharmacy and bought shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush and toothpaste for them both. I also got razors, shaving foam, deodorant and some painkillers in case Dan needed them. I then hurried back to the car laden down with bags.
‘Blimey, what did you buy?’ he laughed as I reached the car.
‘Just the essentials,’ I grinned.
‘I do have nothing now,’ he mused.
I glanced at him as I started the car. ‘They’re just things, Dan. They don’t mean anything. It’s the people and the memories that matter…not the stuff.’
‘I know.’
‘Thank goodness Fee and the baby are completely fine,’ I commented. ‘So scary to think that it could have been so different.’
He sighed. ‘It could have so easily been so different. I’m so aware of that now, Alex, and so thankful we came out of it with our lives.’
I nodded. ‘And that’s all that matters at the end of the day.’
‘It is.’
I drove on quietly for a few moments before Captain Withers spoke.
‘So, what’s going on with this case?’
I glanced over at him. ‘Oh Dan, it’s awful!’
‘Yeah? What’s going on?’
‘So, it started with a head,’ I told him.
His eyebrows rose and his head began to spin immediately. ‘A head?’
‘Yes. I could see this disgusting looking head which had been skinned…’
‘Skinned?’ he interrupted.
‘Yes. All the skin was removed and what was left…well, it was grim, Dan.’
‘It sounds it. So, have you identified the victim?’
‘No, they haven’t officially but I know who it is-they just need to confirm it. It’s a young man called James Smithers and he’s scattered all over the local area. We found three more body parts this morning in different locations.
‘How did you find the locations?’
‘I was led there,’ I told him.
‘How?’
I glanced over at him. ‘Promise not to mock me?’
‘Would I?’ he gaped.
‘Perhaps I’m too worried about what people think…’ I mused softly. ‘It was a feather.’
‘A feather?’ He sounded surprised.
‘Yes, I know,’ I replied quietly. ‘I don’t honestly know what to make of it myself but I do know that it will be significant to the man doing this.’
‘Ah. Just what I was going to ask next-any leads on suspects?’
I shook my head. ‘I haven’t the first clue where that’s concerned. Only a kind of gut feeling about two things…’
‘What are those?’ he asked, seemingly intrigued now by the case and what had happened so far.
‘I know he’s a man…I can just feel that,’ I revealed. ‘And the other is just a word or phrase which keeps repeating in my head whenever I am near the victim’s body parts.’
‘What is it?’
‘Creation…creator…I created this…’
Captain Withers frowned in my direction.
‘My feeling is that he looks upon what he’s doing as some kind of…art,’ I said, for want of a better word.
‘Art?’
I nodded. ‘Sick, right?’
‘It’s very sick,’ he agreed. ‘But we both know the evil that’s out there so these days, nothing would surprise me.’
I nodded to myself as I turned down the final lane to Jess’s house. ‘True,’ I replied. ‘But it doesn’t stop it being incredibly and heart-wrenchingly sad, Dan. What he did to that poor man…’ I trailed off.
‘Try not to focus on that bit,’ he commanded me. ‘Your job now is to help uncover who is doing this and stop him.
I nodded. He was right. I was indulging in self-pity and drowning in emotion when I should be trying to help more. I squared my shoulders mentally and met his eyes. ‘You know what, Captain, you’re right. Let’s get started now…you can help me.’
‘I can?’ he asked, seemingly surprised.
‘Yes, absolutely. Let’s get you inside.’
Chapter 8
Captain Withers made slow progress to get inside. He was still struggling with his crutches and the pain was intense. I could feel his pain and his thoughts connected to it as he moved and I knew he was suffering. By the time he had reached the sofa, he was in a sweat.
I got him comfortable and then brought in the bags of clothes and supplies I had bought. After placing them in a downstairs bedroom, I made up the bed in preparation for the night and then headed back to sit with him.
‘Can I get you anything?’ I asked.
‘Uh, a water if you don’t mind.’
‘Right, cut all that crap right now. You ask, I get. Simple as that. I am a mind reader and your mind right now is screaming for help. You’re in a fuck-load of pain right now, Dan and I know it. There’s no hiding that from me. It isn’t going to hurt me to run around after you a little, is it? You’ve saved my life before and been there when I’ve needed you. The least I can do is help get you some food and water.’
He smiled at me. ‘You’re quite an incredible character, you know that, Alex?’
I felt myself blush and for a moment was quite stumped for words. I smiled at him, feeling red in the face. ‘You know something, Dan? I think that’s the first time a man has ever made me feel complimented and tingly inside. Stop it, hey? We’re both attached and I’m into women remember?’
‘One very special woman,’ he commented.
‘What the hell’s got into you?’ I laughed, chuckling aloud at him getting all over the top and complimentary with me.
‘I’ve taken a lot of drugs, Alex,’ he smiled. ‘But life is too short. You and Jess deserve medals for everything you’ve done lately. I won’t forget it-your help and your friendship to Fee and I. I’m not trying to make you feel awkward but when you’ve almost died twice, I think it’s important to let people know how you feel.’
I stared into his large, soulful eyes and felt connected to him. Not in a romantic way whatsoever but as an older, brother might feel when he is being kind and protective. ‘I…I don’t know what to say, Dan…thanks. You mean a lot to both of us and we’re both so relieved things worked out okay in the end.’
‘Apart from this damn hip,’ he grimaced.
‘Yeah!’ I laughed. ‘So, I’m going to get you food, water and some more painkillers because it hurts like hell!’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because I can feel it!’ I complained. ‘Sometimes this mind thing is weird like that-I can actually feel what someone else is going through. I don’t like it…it’s pretty horrible.’
‘I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone. Sorry, Alex…I don’t want you suffering it too!’
I smiled at him. ‘I’ll block you out. Right…food!’
I headed to the k
itchen and began making something for us both to eat. It had been a busy morning and I was tired and hungry too. I wondered how Jess was getting on in the morgue and thought about phoning her to enquire as to whether they had made any progress. I also reminded myself to check in with her about the other missing man-Gareth-and check to find out if they had any more information on him.
‘You look thoughtful,’ Dan commented as I brought him his tray. It was loaded with sandwiches, crisps and yoghurt as well as an orange juice, water and painkillers for him to take.
‘Yeah, I was just thinking about the case again.’
‘Really? Tell me more…I’m interested to help more, even if it is simply from sitting here in the lounge.’
‘I’d appreciate any help,’ I admitted. ‘I don’t know where to begin.’
‘What’s worrying you?’
‘Well, I want to find out if the other missing body parts have been identified as James’s too,’ I began. ‘But I also need to find out about the other missing man.’
‘There’s two?’ he asked.
‘Yes, that’s right. Another man went missing at a similar time and hasn’t been seen since. I don’t know what to do or think about it…I met the parents and got nothing from them.’
‘I was going to ask that. And you held something of his?’
‘Well, no…I could do that…I met a friend of his and that was significant.’
‘How so?’
‘Because I shook his hand and realised that he was not just a friend of Gareth’s, he was his gay lover.’
The Captain’s eyebrows rose. ‘Gay lover?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah.’
‘So, is there a gay connection?’
‘In what way?’ I asked.
‘Well, if Gareth is or was gay maybe the other victim was too…maybe the killer is targeting gay men for some reason or another. It’s quite a common occurrence for a killer of this magnitude to target specific groups.’
‘Why would he target gay men?’
‘Think about it,’ Captain Withers said. ‘It could be he is gay himself and that’s how he lures them in…it could be that he’s homophobic and therefore wants to kill gay men. It could be that he’s in denial about his own sexuality and is acting out against that.’